Thursday, May 15, 2014

Trip Report. We Are Here

This was the least bumpy, smoothest trip to Cozumel ever in my life. And you know what? I have no idea how many times we've been here. We've so lost track. We can't even use our passports to count the times because when we first started coming, no passport was needed to travel to Mexico. Just your driver's license.
Well, as I said yesterday, times change.

But we got to the airport via Jason and when we checked in they didn't tell us that the crew hadn't gotten their required hours of rest, thus making the flight late and we weren't delayed flying into Miami and the sky train whisked us to our gate and we had time to get a bloody mary and I was calm and not anxious about one damn thing and the plane we flew on to Cozumel was more than half empty and thus, luxurious, and I thought of Rebecca and how she used to build planes and that made me happy and the only tears were the good ones when the Yucatan came into sight and then we landed and I cried some more and we had to wait in line for about an hour to get our passports stamped but so what? There was a cute baby to flirt with and people to look at and there was no problem at all.
We got to the hotel and it is older and not fancy but lovely in all of that.

The view from our room looks like this:

We are on the ground floor because that's the only room they have with a king-sized bed but you know- all I have to do to get the full sight of the sea is to walk about twenty feet. Not so bad, right? And we may change on Sunday but do you understand? This is the first time ever we took the first room given to us?
I mean, call Ripley's.
So okay, we had to ask for a fan because the AC doesn't work very well but please...that is nothing.

When we got to the check-in desk, the lady said, "Oh, you must be Mr. Glen!" because they knew he was going to be tall which is why we needed a king-sized bed (and he's still longer than the bed but whatever) and there was a little dog who stood on her back legs and held her little paws up and waved them as if in greeting and all of the dive guys smiled and said, "Hola!" and everyone was nice and we were starving and went up to the restaurant and got some nachos and we were happy.

After we ate, we realized we were exhausted and we laid down on the bed and slept for an hour, woke up, got some coffee from the restaurant/bar, showered, got ready to go to town.

It had rained here when we arrived and it's been raining on and off ever since and so the water is not as glorious and magically hued as it is when the sun is out and we did not get a sunset but it's cool and that is nice too.
We walked to town, slowly by the seawall, admiring the bougainvillea in shades of red and purple and one that looked white on first glance but upon studying it we realized it was the most beautiful shade of white with blush pink and I will take pictures. Families were swimming at a beach and there was a little boy, about Gibson's age, talking on a toy cell phone just like Gibson does and my heart swelled even more than it did as we walked hand-in-hand and we passed the dolphin encounter and our hearts were sad about that but people said, Hola, buenos tardes, then buenos noches as it grew darker and the rain began to mist but the wind was blowing so that it barely damped us and we stopped at a scooter rental place. Mr. Moon began his bargaining thing and I went back outside to stand in the wind and mist and instead of being crazed by the process as I usually am, I was tranquil and undisturbed and we did not rent one and immediately after leaving that shop we saw an ambulance and a guy down on the sidwalk from a scooter spill, his wife fine, and there was no blood and he seemed okay. But that's the way it is, you know. And the roads were wet and we knew it was best to wait.

We passed Chadraui, the big grocery store and then Mega, the even bigger one, and beautiful homes and hotels and came into town and passed the store where they sell Cartier and perfumes from all over the world and the air from that place smells like cold-marble-air-conditioning-precious-fragrances-rich-people and we smiled and walked on and went to Plaza Leza and yes, the guy said, "Welcome home."

It began to truly rain and the wind blew and we have to move inside but it was cozy and my chiles rellenos were delicious and the refried black beans and pico de gallo and tomatoes with lime juice entered my mouth like a lover and they whispered, home, home, home.
We walked across the square to the store which has been there for twenty-six years where they sell everything from liquor to expensive luggage and perfume and a few pharmacy items and water and juice and coffee and we bought Mr. Moon some bandaids for the blister on his foot and rum and coke and water and then we got a taxi and came back to the room and here we are.

The wind is still blowing and if experience teaches me anything, it is that it is going to be blowing for a few days and so what? We could sit here at this table on our patio and play cards for days and I would be happy.

It's so funny how my tiny bit of Spanish comes back to me immediately when we get here. And when I say "tiny" I mean it. I can ask for a glass of water and I can say the word for rain and I can say "buenos noches" with the proper Yucatanean lisp and "Hola" with the emphasis on the second syllable, the way it's done here, and ask for my margarita "sin sal" and every word I hear in Spanish I repeat in my head again and again. We told our taxi driver we were staying at the Blue Angel and he said, "Blue Anjel" and I said, "Anjel Azul," and he repeated it properly with the z sounding like an s and the ule part pulled out of the mouth shaped like a kiss.

Right now we are sitting on our little patio at the table and the wind is rustling the palm trees and the water is crashing into the rocks and there is an acoustic guitar player at the bar which we can hear and although the sky is too cloudy to afford us any glimpse of the moon or the stars, I know they are there.
We are drinking rum and coke and Mr. Moon is about to go give the musician a little bit of a tip just because he is bringing us such pleasure here as we sit in the Mexican night.

This is what I looked like about an hour ago before I started writing this. And oh yes- the internet here is wonderful.

When Jessie was a little bitty bit of a girl she used to wrap things around her head like a turban and she would say, "This is what we wear in my ancient land," which was hysterical and finally, one time we asked her, "What IS your ancient land?" and she said immediately, "MexiMO City!" and since then, we have always referred to Mexico as our ancient land and here I am, right here, in my ancient land, and although the wind is blowing and the waves are crashing, todo es tranquillo and all is calm.

Glad that you made it. We are getting excited for travel. Cabo is going to be hot, with temps in the 90's. Nothing unusual for us except low humidity there. Thanks for posting. I told my wife that the Moons are in Cozumel.

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Please e-mail me for any reason whatsoever at mmerluna@aol.com